


A picture paints a thousand words.

by Perlmutt



Series: Moments of life, love and laughter  -  Stony Oneshots [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Avengers Tower, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Fluff, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Short & Sweet, Steve Feels, Surprises, Tony Feels, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24438250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perlmutt/pseuds/Perlmutt
Summary: Steve prepared a birthday surprise for Tony.All he has to do is say yes.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Moments of life, love and laughter  -  Stony Oneshots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1361242
Comments: 6
Kudos: 105





	A picture paints a thousand words.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Tony!!!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (Not beta-ed, English is not my mother language)

10:33 am

“JARVIS? Where's Steve?”

“Captain Rogers left the tower at 7:14 am and hasn't returned.”

“Weird. He's never skipped team breakfast up until now. Is something up at SHIELD?”

“No, Sir. There haven't been any anomalies.”

“Well, let's get some work done until he's back. Good morning, buddies. Daddy's here, wake up! Oh, and J? Alert me, when he's back.”

“Certainly, Sir.”

…

1:06 pm

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Is Steve back?”

“I'm afraid not, Sir.”

“Where the fuck is he? We wanted to meet for lunch!”

“I think the correct phrasing would be that Captain Rogers would have reminded you to eat something nutritious that is not pure caffeine.”

“Shush! I can't think like that. And you spend too much time with him, I did not program you to be that sassy.”

“My apologies, Sir.”

…

4:22 pm

“J? Is Steve back?”

“Captain Rogers has yet to return to the tower.”

“Huh… okay. Pull up the blueprints for the new helicarrier engine. There was one energy output that needed some adjustments. And have Dum-E start a new pot of coffee. Please make sure he doesn't put something poisonous in it again.”

“Or course, Sir.”

…

7:19 pm

“JARVIS? Is he...”

“Captain Rogers hasn't returned.”

“Where is he? It's been the whole day...”

…

9:02 pm

“J? Steve?”

“I'm sorry, Sir.”

…

10:34 pm

“Steve?”

“My apologies.”

…

11:58 pm

“Okay, I give up. J, have the boys tidy up, I cannot concentrate any longer.” Tony stood up from his work table where he had been tinkering with some engine parts, pulled off his safety gloves and goggles and grabbed the rag to clean off the worst grease and dirt from his arms.

“Certainly, Sir.” Answered the cool British voice and surely Butterfingers, U and Dum-E started to move.

Tony was on his way to the glass door of the lab when suddenly the lights dimmed and JARVIS projected the time and date in front of him. It was midnight, May 29th. “Happy Birthday, Sir. We wish you the very best for the coming year.”

Tony smiled to himself and turned around when he felt U suddenly gently touch his elbow. On a wobbly tray that Dum-E and Butterfingers held with their claws stood a bright pink smoothie, a plate with chocolate cookies and an electronic candle. All three bots were wearing hilarious party hats and Tony smiled brightly at his four metaphorical children.

“Thanks, guys.” He patted all of the bots and smiled into JARVIS' nearest camera. “That means a lot.”

The bots chirped happily at the gesture and his words and Tony took the tray from them before an accident could happen that ended with smoothie on the lab walls. He watched them interact for a few more moments before JARVIS' voice called out to him once again.

“Sir, if I may? There's another surprise for you waiting in your rooms.”

“Another surprise?” Tony echoed and raised one eyebrow. “Please tell me it's not a prank from Barton again.”

“No, Sir. I am positive that you will like it. If you would like to go and see for yourself?” Tony gave his bots one last pat and temporarily left the tray on his table, before he wandered towards the exit of his work sanctuary. He blinked when he spotted the sheet of paper on the glass doors of the lab, covered in Steve's neat handwriting next to a detailed sketch of Tony working on the Iron Man armor with Dum-E next to him.

_Do you remember the first time you showed me your lab? It was like falling through the rabbit hole and suddenly standing in Wonderland. It is just like you. Full of energy, futuristic and amazing._

Tony smiled. Yeah, he remembered it. Steve had been standing in the middle of the room, his eyes bigger than plates and he couldn't stop looking around and asking questions about everything he saw. Tony had been so nervous what he'd say and his heart had swelled with pride at Steve's amazement.

He plucked the sketch from the door and let his fingers wander over the lines. It was beautiful. Tony wondered when Steve had put it there, Tony would have noticed him coming down to the lab. After all, he'd been waiting for him like a nervous teenage girl all day long.

He stepped into the already waiting elevator and when he looked up as the doors closed quietly he laid eyes on another sheet of paper that was waiting for him. Again it was a picture, this time of Steve and Tony standing next to each other in exactly this elevator. Picture-Tony held a tablet and a cellphone in his hands for Picture-Steve to take. There were small and sincere smiles on both their faces.

_Tony, you are the key to the future. I felt lost and lonely when I first woke up in a time that wasn't mine, but you were there to catch me when I was falling. I can't tell you enough how grateful I am for everything you did._

Tony felt his cheeks heating up. Yeah, it was maybe selfish and sneaky, but introducing Steve to the twenty-first century was secretly a hobby of his. He loved the looks on the soldier's face every time when he'd take him around town and showed him another great innovation of the future. Steve was like a child in a candy store, eager to try everything.

The elevator doors opened again and he stepped out into the hallway of his floor. He almost fell over his own feet when he hastily tried not to step on the picture that was innocently waiting for him on the floor. This time it was a fully colored picture of Iron Man in battle. Tony remembered the scene. It had been a rather heavy fight against Doom's newest robot army. Steve had been injured and Tony threw caution to the wind and fought tooth and nail to protect him. He shuddered at the memory. Seeing Steve on the ground with blood all over his uniform had almost given him a heart attack. It was sheer luck that they had managed to defeat Doom. The image of Steve laying in the white hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines haunted him in his nightmares.

_Whenever I need you, you are there. You have my back just like I have yours. I trust you. And even if I lose, I know you will be there when I wake up again. When you're with me, there's nothing I have to fear. Except for losing you. So, please, stay at my side._

Tony found himself choked up. He didn't want to imagine how it would destroy him if he were to lose Steve. Sure, the guy could pack a punch and he was nothing if not stubborn. But Steve was also just human. He was no God, no alien, just a squishy human with only a piece of ancient metal for protection. But Steve was also right, he'd always have his back. _Stay at my side_. His heart fluttered at the words and he cradled the pictures close to his chest. What was Steve planning with this? Where would the paper trail lead him?

Tony had fallen head over heels for the patriotic icicle that was his friend and team captain, and this -these pictures, those words- were a little too close to what he was secretly truly feeling. He just hoped that Steve wasn't fucking around with him. Otherwise he'd just have to hide away in his workshop for the next month until he ran out of coffee beans and poptarts.

“JARVIS, what is Steve planning with this?” He murmured but received no answer. The hallway was just as quiet as before and he threw a wary glance at the ceiling. Another habit of Steve's that had rubbed off on him.

The next picture greeted him taped to the opaque door that lead into his private living room. Tony's breath hitched. It was another drawing of Steve and Tony, curled together on the couch in front of the TV. It looked like they were both sleeping. The drawing was mainly black and white, except for the soft blue light of the arc reactor and the glow of the TV. Picture-Steve had an arm around Picture-Tony's shoulders, the inventor's head was on his chest and the blonde had his nose buried in his dark unruly hair. The drawing showed such a domestic and almost intimate scene and Tony felt himself yearning to wrap his arms around Steve's strong body and be engulfed in his warmth.

_In good and in bad times. You are my home._

Tony carefully peeled the tape from the door and added the paper to the growing collection of memories and wishes in his arms. He stood there for long minutes, lost in thought, when JARVIS suddenly addressed him out of nowhere.

“Sir? You told me to inform you when Captain Rogers returned to the tower.”

“Yeah.” He quietly cleared his throat. His voice sounded hoarse and his heart was full of emotions. “Where is he, J?”

“The Captain is waiting for you in your living room, Sir.”

“What?” That had Tony frowning. He was standing in front of his closed living room door. JARVIS decided not to answer him and Tony slowly opened the door that he had been standing in front of for a while now. He stepped into the almost dimly lit room and was sure his heart was stopping. Tony gaped. On every surface in the room were pictures. There were drawings made with simple pencil strokes, oil and acrylic paintings, doodles on scrap paper and napkins, canvas full with charcoal. And every single one showed a moment or a memory. Tony and his bots, with the rest of the Avengers team, working in the lab, laughing with Pepper and Rhodey, in full armor in the middle of battle, sleeping in uncomfortable positions on the couch, with his favorite mug in the morning-

And in the middle stood Steve. In his right hand he had a plate with two of Tony's favorite donuts on it and in his left he held a sheet of paper in front of his head, hiding his face from Tony.

_Happy Birthday, Tony._

_I love you._

Tony felt the papers he held onto slip from his fingers. His mind was spinning, his thoughts were running around in circles. Nothing made sense, his world had just been turned upside down. The only thing he was able to focus on were the three words that had been written in big letters on the paper that Steve still held.

_I love you._

Glad that he was only wearing socks and no shoes, he stepped into the room, over the hundreds of Steve's pictures and made his way slowly over to where Steve was still standing. He hadn't said a word, but neither had Tony. When he was finally in front of him, Tony could no longer suppress his smile. Gently he took Steve's wrist and pulled it down, so he was able to look into the other's face. Steve's high cheeks were dusted in pink as well as the tips of his ears. It was a beautiful contrast to his fair hair and endless seeming blue eyes.

Was this even real? This man -a legend, a hero, his friend and the dream he thought he'd never be able to grasp- loved him?

Tony's heart was beating like crazy but he could see that Steve was just as nervous, if the way he was biting his bottom lip was any indication.

“Really?” He would never admit how breathless his voice sounded in this moment, but he needed to know.

“Really. Have done so for longer than I would like to admit.” Steve answered. His voice was a quiet rumble in his chest and it sent shivers down Tony's spine. “So...” He continued after a few more moments of quietness. “What do you think, Tony?” His eyes searched Tony's face and the shorter man was sure that he was a furiously blushing mess himself by now.

“I think” He started. “that you stood me up on our lunch meet up yesterday.” He saw Steve pale a bit at that and hurried to add. “But maybe we can go out for dinner instead? The little restaurant with the great pasta? Just you and me? Like a real date?”

Steve smiled at him. And wasn't that the most beautiful thing in the world? “Of course. Whatever you wish for.”

And then there were lips on his own. It was gentle and innocent, but also the most amazing thing that had ever happened to Tony. For a short moment he let his eyes flutter shut. Their foreheads touched when they broke the kiss and Tony looked back up at Steve. The blonde's eyes never left his face and somehow Tony's free hand had found its way into the soft hair at the back of Steve's head.

“Happy Birthday, Tony.”, whispered Steve. His warm breath ghosted over Tony's lips.

He smiled up at Steve. “I love you too.”


End file.
